Pregnant women warned about Latin American trips

Washington: US federal health officials advised pregnant women to postpone travelling to 13 Latin American or Caribbean countries and Puerto Rico where mosquitoes are spreading the Zika virus, which has been linked to brain damage in babies.

Women considering becoming pregnant were advised to consult doctors before travelling to countries with Zika cases and all travellers were urged to avoid mosquito bites, as were residents of Puerto Rico and the United States Virgin Islands.

Pregnant women have been warned to avoid travelling to Latin American and Caribbean countries where mosquitoes spread the Zika virus.

"We believe this is a fairly serious problem," said Dr Lyle R. Petersen, chief of vector-borne diseases for the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention. "This virus is spreading throughout the Americas. We didn't feel we could wait."

It applies to the entire countries "unless there is specific evidence the virus is not occurring somewhere," Dr Petersen said.

This appears to be the first time the CDC has advised pregnant women to avoid a specific region. The warning is expected to affect the travel industry and could affect the Summer Olympics, set for Brazil in August.